The Boots to "California"
Antonija Glavas

The doorbell of my cousin's house rang one late autumn afternoon. I lived there with my family as refugees. One elderly lady tried to tell our cousin something but it was not easy to understand because she had some trouble speaking. Our cousin explained that she had heard about us and was looking to see if any of us could give a hand to her girlfriend also in the neighborhood.

She took my sister and me to a kindly elderly lady. Both of them had spent many nice summer vacations on our beautiful Adriatic coast and were watching every newscast about the war in our country. The granny was very sympathetic. She was about 80 years old and needed a little help with household chores. We spent a nice hour together and became her grandchildren and she our granny. She was widowed, lived alone and had no children. She stood as a friend at our side. She shook and worried about us, every time they wanted to send us back.

She was also worried about me when I left for Canada. What would happen to me? How would I endure alone? Every time my sister goes there she phones me and tells about grandmother's worries about me. A few months ago she laughed on the phone as she was telling me that granny gave her some nice white winter boots to send me. She said that granny was almost crying. She said: "Helena, you don't know how cold it is in this California. The boots are really nice and warm."

They will also warm my soul every time I wear them because I'll be thinking of granny. I thanked granny for them, when I was in Germany. She laughed when I told her: "Granny, you are old and could not go to Canada but you sent your granddaughter your boots so the boots and I could tell you our stories."